Is The Ca + K + Mg/Al Ratio in the Soil Solution a Predictive Tool for Estimating Forest Damage?

The ratio between (Ca +K +Mg) and Al in nutrientsolution has been suggested as a predictive tool forestimating tree growth disturbance. However, the ratiois unspecific in the sense that it is based on severalelements which are all essential for plant growth;each of these may be growth-limiting. Furthermore,aluminium retards growth at higher concentrations. Itis therefore difficult to give causal and objectivebiological explanations for possible growthdisturbances. The importance of the proportion ofbase-cations to N, at a fixed base-cation/Al ratio, isevaluated with regard to growth of Picea abies.The uptake of elements was found to be selective;nutrients were taken up while most Al remained insolution. Biomass partitioning to the roots increasedafter aluminium addition with low proportions of basecations to nitrogen. We conclude that the low growthrates depend on nutrient limitation in thesetreatments. Low growth rates in the high proportionexperiments may be explained by high internal Alconcentrations. The results strongly suggest thatgrowth rate is not correlated with the ratio in therooting medium and question the validity of usingratios as predictive tools for estimating forestdamage. We suggest that growth limitation of Picea abies in the field may depend on lowproportions of base cations to nitrate. It istherefore important to know the nutritional status ofthe plant material in relation to the growth potentialand environmental limitation to be able to predict andestimate forest damage.     

Method to Partition Between Attached and Unattached E. coli in Runoff From Agricultural Lands1

Abstract: Remediation of waters impaired by bacterial indicators is usually dictated by total maximum daily load plans, which are heavily dependent on fate and transport modeling of bacterial indicators. Nonpoint source pollution models are most frequently used to assess bacterial transport to surface waters and most models typically simulate bacterial transport as a dissolved pollutant. Previous studies have found that cells preferentially attach to sediments; however, a variety of techniques have been used to assess attachment including filtration, fractional filtration, and centrifugation. In addition, a variety of chemical and physical dispersion techniques are used to release attached and bioflocculated cells from particulates. Here we developed and validated an easy‐to‐replicate laboratory procedure for separation of unattached from attached E. coli which will also identify particle sizes to which E. coli preferentially attach. Physical and chemical dispersion techniques were evaluated and a combined hand shaker treatment for 10 min followed by dilutions in 1,000 mg/l of Tween 85 significantly increased total E. coli concentrations by 31% when compared with a control. In order to separate unattached from attached fractions, two commonly used techniques, fractional filtration, and centrifugation were combined. The filtration and centrifugation treatments did not reduce E. coli concentrations when compared with a control (p > 0.05), indicating that damage was not inflicted upon the E. coli cells during the separation procedure.     

Seasonal and particle size-dependent variations in gas/particle partitioning of PCDD/Fs

This study monitored particle size-dependent variations in atmospheric polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs). Two gas/particle partitioning models, the subcooled liquid vapor pressure (P(L)(0)) and the octanol-air partition coefficient (K(OA)) model, were applied to each particle sizes. The regression coefficients of each fraction against the gas/particle partition coefficient (K(P)) were similar for separated particles within the same sample set but differed for particles collected during different periods. Gas/particle partitioning calculated from the integral of fractions was similar to that of size-segregated particles and previously measured bulk values. Despite the different behaviors and production mechanisms of atmospheric particles of different sizes, PCDD/F partitioning of each size range was controlled by meteorological conditions such as atmospheric temperature, O(3) and UV, which reflects no source related with certain particle size ranges but mixed urban sources within this city. Our observations emphasize that when assessing environmental and health effects, the movement of PCDD/Fs in air should be considered in conjunction with particle size in addition to the bulk aerosol.     

Seasonal concentrations and partitioning of PAHs in a suburban site of Bursa, Turkey

Effects of space heating on atmospheric concentrations and gas-particle partitioning of PAHs were investigated in a suburban site of Bursa, Turkey. The average concentrations of ∑₁₅-PAHs in heating season samples were approximately 10 times higher than those of non-heating season samples. The plot of log K_p versus log P_L⁰ for all the data set gave significantly different slopes. The slope for the heating season (−0.75) samples was steeper than the one for the non-heating season (−0.64) samples. It was also observed that partitioning of PAHs for the non-heating season samples showed different characteristics depending on air parcel trajectories. Generally steeper slopes were obtained for the air parcels traveled across the Black sea and arrived to the sampling site from northern sector. On the other hand, the variations in slopes according to air mass origin were insignificant for the heating season samples. Local contributions from space heating are the reason for this observation.     

Community analysis in stream biomonitoring: what we measure and what we don't

Diatom assemblages from 83 epilithic samples taken from the Mesta River, Bulgaria, were regressed against three sets of predictor variables, i.e. environmental, spatial, and temporal. Redundancy analysis (RDA) of species and environmental data explained 36% of the diatom variance and extracted several important gradients of species distribution, associated with a downstream increase in nutrient levels, pH, temperature, and organic pollution. The inclusion of spatial and temporal variables in the RDA model captured additional 24% of the diatom variance and revealed three more gradients, a spatial gradient represented by higher order polynomial terms of latitude and longitude, and two temporal gradients of annual and seasonal variation. Partial RDAs demonstrated that the unique contribution of each predictor set to the explained diatom variance was the highest in the spatial dataset (16%), followed by the environmental (9%), and the temporal (7%) datasets. The remaining 28% of the variance was explained by the covariance of the predictor sets. This suggests that in biomonitoring of single stream basins, the cheap and simple account of space and time would explain most of the variance in assemblage composition obviating the necessity of expensive and time-consuming environmental assessments. The nature of the underlying environmental mechanisms can be easily inferred from the diatom composition itself.     

大气中持久性有机污染物在气相和颗粒相中的分配特征研究进展

大气中持久性有机污染物(POPs)的气(气相)-粒(颗粒相)分配是影响POPs在大气中分布、迁移和转化的一个重要因素,研究POPs的气-粒分配特征有助于提高POPs环境归趋预测的准确性,对区域范围内的大气POPs污染防治具有重要意义.本文简要介绍了两种经典的POPs气-粒分配理论及模型,总结了有关大气中几类典型POPs在气相和颗粒相中的分配特征研究的最新进展,讨论了不同种类POPs气-粒分配的一些差异性特征和可能的影响因素,并提出了大气中新型POPs气-粒分配特征研究中亟待解决的问题.     

广东某大型城市生活垃圾焚烧厂9种重金属的迁移特征

采集广东某大型城市生活垃圾焚烧厂一期(WI-A)和二期(WI-B)的进厂垃圾、渗滤液、飞灰、底渣和烟气样品,分析了各样品中砷、镉、钴、铬、铜、汞、镍、铅、锌共9种重金属含量,研究重金属的迁移特征。结果显示,9种重金属呈现4类不同的迁移特征,钴、铜、镍、铬主要迁移至底渣中,锌、砷、铅主要迁移至底渣和飞灰中,镉主要迁移至飞灰中,汞主要迁移至飞灰和烟气中。活性炭吸附和布袋除尘器的组合对除汞以外的重金属治理效果明显。WI-A和WI-B垃圾中的汞分别约有28%、37%随烟气排到环境中。     

两相分配式生物反应器处理高盐废水中的苯酚

采用新型两相分配式生物反应器(TPPB)和前期研究得到的高效苯酚降解菌对高盐废水中苯酚的降解进行研究,研究中确定煤油为反应系统的最佳有机溶剂,并考察了废水苯酚含量、废水盐度以及搅拌器搅拌速度对苯酚降解的影响。结果表明,反应系统能正常降解苯酚含量为1 000～2 500 mg/L的高盐苯酚废水;反应系统在含盐量为100 g NaCl/L、搅拌速度为50 r/min的运行工况条件下,降解时间缩短为52 h,总酚去除率为20.58 mg/(L.h)。     

Partitioning of water soluble organic carbon in three sediment size fractions： Effect of the humic substances

Water soluble organic carbon (WSOC) in sediments plays an important role in transference and transformation of aquatic pollutants. This article investigated the inherent mechanisms of how sediemnt grain size affect the partitioning coeffcient (k) of WSOC. Influences of NaOH extracted humic substances were particularly focused on. Sediments were sampled from two cross-sections of the middle Yellow River and sieved into three size fractions (< 63 μm, 63-100 μm, and 100--300 μm). The total concentration of WSOC in sediments (CWSOC) and k were estimated using multiple water-sediment ratio experiments. Results show that CWSOC ranges from 0.012 to 0.022 mg/g, while k ranges from 0.8 to 3.9 L/kg. Correlations between the spectrum characteristics of NaOH extracted humic substances and k were analyzed. Strong positive correlations are determined between k and the aromaticity indicators of NaOH extracted humic substances in different sediment size fractions. Comparing with finer fractions (< 63 μm), k is higher in larger size fractions (63--100 and 100--300 μm) related to higher aromaticity degree of NaOH extracted humic substances mostly. While negative relationship between k and the area ratio of fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) at 3400 and 1430 cm-1 implied that the lowest k was related to the highest concentration of the acidic humic groups in particles < 63 μm. WSOC in finer fractions (< 63 μm) is likely to enter into pore water, which may further accelerate the transportation of aquatic contaminants from sediment to water.     

西安城区秋季大气中多溴联苯醚的污染特征及来源分析

为了评估西安大气中多溴联苯醚（PBDEs）的污染程度,2008年8～10月,利用大流量主动采样器采集了西安城区气态和颗粒态大气样品.分别利用GC-MS和GC/ECD对低溴PBDEs和BDE-209进行分析,12种PBDEs的总浓度（气相＋颗粒相）范围为37.43～620.30 pg/m3,平均值为216.28 pg/m...